Clothes-drier.



P. D. RIURDAN.

CLOTHES DRIER.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. I3. I9I5.

Patented July 25, 1916.

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Patented July 25, 1916.

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WITNESSES:

A TTORNEY PATRICK D. RIORDAN, OF NEW YGRK, N. Y.

CLOTHES-narnia.

meines.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 13, 1915. Serial No. 61,209.

, clothes driers; and an object of this invention is to provide a clothes drier which will be simple in construction, comparatively cheap in manufacture and eihcient and durable in operation and use.

In the drawings illustrating the principle of this invention and the best inode now ,known to me of applying that principle,

Figure l is a front elevation of my new clothes drier; Fig. 2 is a plan thereof; Fig.

3 is a section on the line II-'Hof Fig. l;

Fig. 4. is a section on the line IV-IV of Fig. l; Fig. 5 is a detail in section showing the manner in which the ends of the windlass-rope are secured; Fig;y 6 is a section on the line VI-VI of'Fig. 2,; Fig. 7 is a detail showing the manner in which the controlling ropes are secured to the pulleyblock; and Fig. 8 illustrates a modified form in which mechanism is used for turning the yclothes drier.

They clothes `drier is supported -upon a stand having .sa base-platea, from which rises a post b on the upper end of which there is fastened a disk c between which `and a similar disk cl there are arranged antifriction balls e. The disks. c, d, and the balls cnform a substantially*,frictionless thrust bearing. The upper disk (Z is carried by the lower end of a hollow verticalishaft f from the lower end of which there yprojects a pin g that fits snugly in arecess b formed in the upper end of the post b. The hollow shaft f is in reality an irontube or pipe the upper end of which is threaded, "as shown at f', Figo; and this threaded end f is screwed into a hole It formedin the block h. into the latter there are screwed the three horizontalfpipes e', c, i yand afourthl pipe X (Fig. y5) which entends in the saine direction as the pipe z'. The pipes e', i', eX- tend inthe same direction, as isshown in Figs. 1 and 5, while the other two pipesy extend cat-right angles to the pipes c', r,On

the outer endcof the pipe i there is screwed an elbow j, into which there is screwed a vertical pipe 7c the upper end of which carries an elbow` m into which is screwed one end of a horizontal pipe a' the other end of which is screwed into a block o. Each of the other three pipes radiating from the block t f supports a similar structure; that is, there are four vertical pipes or standards 7c, la', 7c and 70X, the pipe 7c yjoining the horizontal pipes i', n, the pipe 7c joining the horizontal pipes z', n and the vertical pipe la* Patented July 25, 1916.

joining the lower horizontal pipe X with the y upper horizontal pipe nx. Slidably mounted on each of the vertical pipes la, 7c', la, c, is a series of rings p (Fig. 4) with each of which there is linked another ring g that carries a fastener clasped around a rope running parallel and adjacent to one of the vertical pipes; that is, the rope s runs parallel and adjacent to the pipe lo, the rope s runs parallel and adjacent to the pipe 7c', the rope sr runs parallel and adjacent to the pipe 7c and the rope s* runs parallel and adjacent to the piper/bx. The ropes s, s, are in reality partsof a single rope which passes through the eye of the pulley-block a (Fig. 7 and theropes s', c", are likewise parts of a single rope which also passes through the eye t. lAs is clearly shown in Fig. 7 the'ropes may be hound together by ay cord s just above the eye t. Eachof vthe ropes s', s, s, s", passes over two pulleys; thatis, they rop/e s passes over the pulleys o, fw, the rope s passes over the pulleys c', au', the rope 8' passes over the pulleys c, w, and the rope s passes over the pulleys ox, cox. The pulleys w, w', w, 10X, are

mounted in brackets m which are fastened to the upper block 0, while the pulleys lv, fu",

ioa, cx, are mounted, respectively, in brackets, y, f1/,y,"g/X that are fastened, respectively, to the horizontal pipes n, nf, n nx.

fis shown in Fig. l, aseries of clotheslines e is provided, which clotheslines are horizontally-disposed (Figs. l and 2). Each serves vto prevent s inutching of the clothes by the metallic connecting parts e', e. ,f

To raise the clotheslines e and the clothes hung thereon, the following niechanismfis provided: `Depending `from the tubi'ilar frame-member orqpipe there is a pair of hangers 2 the lower ends of whichcarrya tubular bearing 3 through which passes a windlass-shaft 4 one end of which carries a drum 5 and the other end of which is provided with a crank G. The inner end of the windlass shaft 4 passes through the hollo-wshaft or pipe f and lis fastened in place by a nut 7. The outer end of the windlass shaft 4A carries a ratchet-wheel 8 that is engaged by the toe of the pawl 9 pivoted ona disk 10 fastened to the tubular bearing 3. To the drum 5, there is fastened one end of a windlass rope 11 which passes over the pulley 12 and the other end ofwhich passes through a plug 13 and is tied in a knot 14. The plugvl is screwed into the end of the hole la. opposite the threaded end f of the hollow shaft f (Fig. V5). y

Referring to the manually operated clothes drier ,illustrated in Fig. 1, the housewife first fastens the ywet clothes upon-the topmost clothesline e, which is raised to the proper height by turning the shafty 4 by means of the crank 6. When the shaft 4 turns, the drum 5 likewise turns; and, when this rotary motion is in the proper direction, the windlass ,cable 11 is ywound upon the ldrum and this winding-up of the cable 11 causes the pulley 12 and the pulley-block u to be lowered, thereby raising the portions of the ropes s, s', s, sx, that are vertical and adjacent to the vertical frame members 7a,

nk, la, 79X, respectively. When these ropes move upwardly, they carry upwardly with them the fasteners r and, through the latter, the rings g, p; and, as the rings g move up- A wardly, the clotheslines z are raised. The

Vsite to its winding -up direction.

-pawl 9 holds the clotheslines and the clothes thereon in raised position by preventing the turning of the shaft 4 lin a direction oppo- Upon pushing. laterally against the tubular bearfing 3,'the clothes drier proper may be turned on itsV thrust bearing c, d. I

In Fig. 8, there is illustrated a form of this invention in which mechanical means 'are provided for rotating the clothes drier.

vTo the post Z1, there is fastened, as by the 'set-screw 15, a bracket 1G which carries an electric motor 17 on the armature-shaft 18V of which there is mounted fast a bevelgear 19 Y. that meshes with a bevel gear 2O formed von the collar f which is integral with the Y A' rrotation and the clothes carried by the drier feo shaft f. Between the head b* of the post b and collar 76" there are interposed antifrliction balls f". When-the motor 17 is driven, the gears 19,20, set the shaft f in are whirled through the air.

The parts being in the position shown'in vFigi 1, in which the uppermost clothesline f z is shown in clothes-receiving position, the ,housewife fastens the wet clothesupon this 1uppermost clothesline. It is to be observed that the cables s, 8, sQ-s" arecollapsedor folded at their lower lends, that is, they are not taut and the three lowermost clotheslines z are shown lying upon one another. Having filled the uppermost clothesline ve with washed linen, the housewife seizes the crank G, rotates the windlass shaft 4 and turns the windlass drum 5 so as to wind thereon the windlass rope 11. The winding-up of the windlass rope 11 causes the sheave 12 to be pulled down and the cables s, s, s, SX, to be pulled up, the rings p vsliding along the guiding frame members'c, 7c, 7c, 79X. When the second' clothesline z has reached the clothes-receiving position, the housewife stops turning the crank 6 andthe windlass lshaft 4 is held against retrograde rotation by means ofthe engagement of thepawl 9 Vwith the ratchet teeth 8. Of course, the

housewife will, inputting the wet clothes Von the. clothesline@ rotate the frame upon the thrust bearing c, d, by using the windlass shaft 4 as a lever. After each clothesline z has been raised successively into4 clothes carried thereby by allowing current t to energize the electric motor 17, whereby ythe drying of the clothes will beV greatly accelerated, as will be readily understood.` After the clothes have been dried, the curthe frame is .consequently brought torest.

The dry clothes are then taken from'off theV "iowermost clothesline 2,' and, by raising the pawl 9the neXt uppermost clothesline mayk Vrent is cut off from the electric motorl and be broughtl into clothes-receiving position,

the weight of the dry clothes Yassisting the operator to pulldown the cables s, s', s, s". The pawl 9 is allowed to fall and. engage the ratchet-teeth 8, whereby the clothesline now in clothes-receiving position is held therein. After the next to the lastV clothesline has" been been stripped of'its dryclothes, the

pawl 9. is raised again and the neXt clotheslineev is allowed to fall to clothes-receiving position,rafter which the pawl 9`is again engaged with the ratchet-teeth 8. After the`HV- clothesV have been removed yfrom all 1 the clotheslines e, these clotheslinesare left lyingoneY above the other at the bottom of the frame, the cables-s, s', s", s", collapsing or folding as is shown in Fig. 1.,Y .l

In'accordance' with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have described-the principle of operation-of my invention, together n with the apparatus which I1 nowy considerto A.

represent the best embodiment thereof ;l but 'I desire it understood thattheapparatus shown-is only representative and that the invention may be carried outV by other' means.

Thus', by means of the snap hook e, theyoperator is enabled j to disconnect readily the ends of the' clothesline z and thereby to eX- clude the possibility of the rupture thereof by the shrinkage of the saine due to its becoming saturated with rain water; yet the snap-hook fastening may be dispensed with and the clothesline e made long enough to allow for such shrinkage, in which case the ends of the clothesline maybe fastened by a device such as the fastener r. The raisingand-lowering cables may be so rove that the cables s, s', will form parts of a single cable, in which case the cables s, 8X, will form parts of the other cable; and the bindingrope s may be dispensed with. Means other than the electric motor 17 may be provided for imparting a whirling motion to the shaft f.

I claim:

A clothes-drier including a stand; a frame rotatably mounted thereon; a windlass carried by said frame; a series of substantially horizontally-disposed clothes-car- Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the rying lines; substantially vertically-disposed collapsible cables which carry said lines; a sheave to which the ends of' said cables are attached; and a rope that is rove through said sheave and one end of which is fastened to said frame and the other end of which passes around said windlass, the turning of which windlass winds up said rope and shifts said sheave and raises said lines successively into clothes-receiving position and into spaced relation with respect to one another.

Signed at the borough of Manhattan, city, county and State of New York, this eighth day of November, A. D. 1915, in the presence of the two undersigned witnesses.

PATRICK D. RIGRDAN.

Witnesses:

JOHN G. HENRY, GEORGE WAHL.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

